Ronald Joseph Fernholz, 68, of Hackensack (formerly of DeGraff) died Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at Zniewski Funeral Home in Benson. Visitation will continue from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by the funeral service at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2016 (today) at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in DeGraff. Burial will be in St. Bridget’s Catholic Church Cemetery in DeGraff.

Ronald J. Fernholz was born October 6, 1948 in Benson, Minnesota, the son of Christian and Marcella (Platt) Fernholz. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in DeGraff. He grew up on the family farm southwest of DeGraff, and attended country school in district number 28. He went on to attend school in Benson.

April 10, 1987, Ronald was united in marriage to Dawn E. Schroeder in Milbank, South Dakota. Together they were able to share in more than 29 years of marriage.

Ronald, in his early years, worked as a carpenter and did masonry work. He worked for Jennie-O for over 20 years. What he most enjoyed was working and tinkering on machinery and farming. Among the things Ronald enjoyed were farming, fishing, hunting, gardening, riding his John Deere tractors, riding around the sections looking at the crops, and checking on the weather. Ronald was called from this life December 1, 2016 in St. Cloud. He attained the age of 68 years, one month and 25 days.